Lynnfield school budget may go online

LYNNFIELD – Lynnfield Town Moderator David Miller made an appeal for increased transparency from the school district during an appearance at the School Committee meeting Tuesday night.During the public participation portion of the meeting, Miller asked the committee and Superintendent Thomas Jefferson to post the proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 online, especially for town residents who cannot attend the School Committee meetings.Miller said that any information the committee can provide the town in a more accessible setting will keep residents feeling engaged in the town and make them more inclined to attend the bi-annual Town Meetings.?As a town, if we don?t do this, we?ll put Town Meeting in jeopardy,” he said.Jefferson said that the school district is working on putting the budget online.Prior to that portion of the meeting, committee member Timothy Doyle, who is on the school building sub-committee, gave an update on the pending two-story addition to Lynnfield High School.The project team for the addition, Doyle said, submitted drawings on Thursday to the Massachusetts School Building Authority for review and approval. The MSBA had a few problems with the specifications of the outline, he said, and the project team must submit new drawings to the MSBA by March 20. The addition work will then go out to bid at the end of the month, Doyle said.Lynnfield High School Assistant Principal Kevin Cyr and Lynnfield Middle School Assistant Principal Adam Federico also appeared before the committee to discuss changes to the middle school and high school handbooks for the upcoming school year. The changes to the middle school?s handbook, Federico said, were strictly organizational or updates and not concerning rules or practices.However, Cyr offered a more detailed list of potential modifications to the high school?s handbook, including allowing cell phone usage during the school day solely for educational purposes, adding electronic cigarettes and any other tobacco-related products to the school?s no-smoking policy, and permitting students to listen to music during their study hall period, as long as it is not disruptive.At the end of the meeting, the School Committee voted to go into executive session to discuss teacher contract negotiations. Committee Chairperson Dorothy Presser said the committee did not intend to go back into open session following the closed session.The School Committee will meet again on March 27 in the high school media center.Sarah Mupo can be reached at [email protected].